Similar to physical road signs, digital graphical turn indicators illustrate available maneuvers at intersections and other road junctions. A typical graphical turn indicator includes arrows indicating the available directions of travel at the road junction. Software applications can display such indicators to illustrate turns, lane mergers, lane divisions, etc. For example, a software application can present a sequence of graphical turn indicators as part of a display of turn-by-turn directions. Such software applications can execute on dedicated electronic devices (such as car navigation systems built into head units of cars or external navigators) or general-purpose electronic devices (such as desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, smart phones, etc.).
Although it is sometimes desirable to generate a graphical turn indicator that corresponds to the geometry of the road junction, such graphical turn indicators do not always present the clearest schematic view of the road junction. For example, if two road segments form a 20-degree angle, a graphical turn indicator that illustrates the two roads at the same 20-degree angle typically is not as clear a graphical turn indicator in which the angle is wider (e.g., 45 degrees) and, accordingly, the contrast between the two road segment is sharper.